When you are talking with Jehovah’s Witnesses about the identity of Jesus, ask one of them to read aloud Revelation 22:12-13.

Let them use their Watchtower translation.

The Alpha and the Omega

Revelation 22:12-13: “Look! I am coming quickly, and the reward I give is with me, to repay each one according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

So there is one speaker and he identifies himself by three different titles:

1. He is “the Alpha and the Omega” (those are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet).
2. He is “the first and the last.”
3. He is “the beginning and the end.”

Let’s look at these phrases throughout the book of Revelation to identify the speaker.

Ask one of the Witnesses to read Revelation 1:8: “‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says Jehovah God, ‘the One who is and who was and who is coming, the Almighty.’”

So the speaker who called himself “the Alpha and the Omega” is Jehovah.

The First and the Last

But now have them read aloud Revelation 1:17-18: “When I saw him, I felt as dead at his feet. And he laid his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last, and the living one, and I became dead, but look! I am living forever and ever, and I have the keys of death and of the Grave.”

Clearly, this is Jesus.

Ask them to read aloud Revelation 2:8: “And to the angel of the congregation in Smyrna write: ‘These are the things that he says, “the First and the Last,” who became dead and came to life again.”

 Clearly, this is also Jesus.

So Jesus is the first and the last.

But that’s a title Jehovah used for himself in Isaiah 44:6. Ask one of them to read that verse aloud: “This is what Jehovah has said, the King of Israel and his Repurchaser, Jehovah of armies, ‘I am the first and I am the last. There is no God but me.’”

So Jehovah is the first and the last.

Ask, “Do you see from this why I believe that Jesus as well as the Father is Jehovah God?”

Witnesses may try to get around this in two ways. First, they may tell you that Jesus is “the first and the last” in a different sense. Jesus is the first creation and the “last Adam.”

Point out that Revelation uses the same title for both and makes no such distinction.

They may point out that Jesus is called an “apostle” in Hebrews 3:1 but that doesn’t mean he was the only apostle or that the other apostles were equal in rank to him. If they give you that answer, say, “Many people can be apostles, but how can you have two firsts and two lasts?”

The Beginning and the End

How about “the beginning and the end”?

Ask them to read Revelation 21:6-7: “And he said to me: ‘They have come to pass! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To anyone thirsting I will give from the spring of the water of life free. Anyone conquering will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be my son.’”

That’s Jehovah again.

Take them back to Revelation 22:12-13: “Look! I am coming quickly, and the reward I give is with me, to repay each one according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

Then ask, “Is the Father coming or is Jesus?” If they say that both are coming, ask them when the Father is coming to the earth.

Take them to Revelation 22:16 to see who the speaker is: “I, Jesus, sent my angel to bear witness to you about these things for the congregations. I am the root and the offspring of David and the bright morning star.”

 And finally to Revelation 22:20: “The one who bears witness of these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming quickly.’” “Amen! Come, Lord Jesus.”

 Jehovah’s Witnesses may tell you that the speaker changed from Jehovah to Jesus in verse 16.

 Point out that the speaker in Revelation 22:12-13 says he is coming quickly. Yet in their own translation, John says in verse 20 that there is one who is speaking and coming quickly, and that is Jesus.

 So all three of the titles—the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end—each belong to Jehovah and yet each belong to Jesus.

 Again ask, “Do you see from all this why I believe that Jesus—as well as the Father—is Jehovah?

If you get this far in your presentation, you will have done very well!

You can summarize your points for the Witnesses, or, even better, see if you can get them to summarize the points even if they disagree with them.

That’s one way to make sure they understand what you have been saying.